Germany wasn't the best location to view last saturday's total lunar eclipse. Seen from my hometown, Darmstadt, which is pretty far to the West, when the Moon finally rose over the horizon, it had already largely left the Earth's umbra cone. Still, I set up my 'scope and started taking pictures. Around 5 p.m., I hit pay dirt: an airliner had crossed the still partially eclipsed lunar disc just when I was taking a picture. I didn't even notice it right then; I was too busy pointing, focusing and clicking away. What are the odds of this happening? Right.

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Dec 10, 2011, around 5 p.m. CET: The Moon is emerging from the Earth umbra which can still be seen as the dark show at the top. This was shortly after moonrise. That close to the horizon, turbulence and haze blurred the details. However, the unexpected sight of an airliner en route to Frankfurt international airport makes this picture noteworthy. (Copyright: Michael Khan, Darmstadt) . I took this picture and also the one below with an ED apochromatic refractor, focal length 420 mm, aperture 70 mm and a standard Canon ...